Archive for Goals
You ARE already goal setting
Posted by: | CommentsWorthy goals push, drive and motivate you to do more, to be more and to have more. If I think back to my childhood, I can remember one of my earliest goals in life. I was a small child, and I mean that in stature not just being young. To give you a better vision of what I mean, I was only four foot three inches in the ninth grade. So as you can imagine, many of the bigger boys made not only a goal of but a pastime out of picking on me. I internally set a goal to create situations in my little life that would help me avoid as much of this school yard harassment as possible.
So, how does a small boy accomplish this large feat? I accomplished this goal by breaking it down into three smaller goals. First, I learned from my father (who by the way was six feet three inches tall) that making people laugh was the quickest way to reach inside them. So my first sub goal was to hone my sense of humor. You see, if you can engage a person, and make them laugh, I found they were far less likely to want to mistreat you.
Second sub goal was to leverage a powerful force to my side. What powerful force you ask? Well, let me explain and I am sure you can figure out which one of the primary human drivers I was leveraging for this goal. Every school year (and throughout the summer) I would make friends with some of the more popular and pretty girls. I did this knowing that some of those ‘more manly’ boys would want meet and learn about these girls. Thus, having those lovely ladies as friends gave him and I some common ground. A side benefit of this goal was the obvious ego boost that came with being friends with some of the more popular and attractive girls at school.
Sub goal three was set as a back-up plan…when all else fails you should know how to
1) Run
2) Fight
So I learned both. Why fight? Because you cannot always far enough or fast enough. Why run? Because you cannot always fight your way out. Even though by the time I had gotten into high school I had about three years of martial arts under my belt (no pun intended) – there were times when running WAS and IS the best option. One such time was when I was surrounded by nine guys whom did not like the fact that I had befriended a girl named ‘Tracy.’ Tracy’s boyfriend was in juvenile hall and when he got out they surrounded me as I left school. I am no Jackie Chan or Jett Lee, heck I am not even Steven Segal, so running in this case was the best solution. However, in those times when the odds were a little better I was able to use the martial arts I had learned to defend myself and others. Again a side benefit of this sub goal was the self-esteem, self-confidence and inner calm that come from feeling strong enough to protect yourself and those you care about even when you choose not to use it.
All this goes to show that goal setting has been a part of my life since very early in my life. I am betting that setting goals has been a part of your life from an early age as well, directly or indirectly. Did you have your eye on someone you wanted to date? Were you able to get that first date? Did you see that new TV in the advertisement and figure out how you could make it fit into your budget? Did your child come to you and say how much they really really really wanted you to be at their play/recital/show? You see even indirectly goal setting is already a part of your life.
Now is the time to make it an ACTIVE part of your life and truly compound and reap the benefits that a focused goals plan can get you. It has been said that we are only truly happy when we are actively working towards a worthy goal. And you know what – this is not new news!
You need to set and work towards worthy goals and yes I will be taking you through an entirely new way to set your goals in up-coming posts – but in the mean time you can find many other great tips and techniques for goals setting, (including brainstorming your goals) in previous postb. Let me know your thoughts, questions and concerns!
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
One of Today’s TOP Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs
Goals Choices and Change
Posted by: | CommentsEnvision if you will, spending the day with a beautiful woman (or handsome man) having a wonderful dinner, going to one of the happening nightclubs in the city and dancing the night away. Drinking a little and laughing a lot. Then returning home after a night’s worth of partying, opening the front door to you home only to find it ransacked, even worse, realizing upon closer inspection that your home was not ransacked by thieves, but rather by the local police.
This is where my rollercoaster of a life had taken me. The choices I made; choices in friends, choices in lifestyle and even the choices in the person I had choose as a mate were coming to an ugly head. I was about to lose everything. And I do mean everything, even my first child. Have you ever been faced with that moment in your life when you were about to lose something or someone that meant the world to you? If you have ever been faced with loosing anything or everything you have built, loved or cherished then you will know what I mean when I say – it was time to make new choices and time to set some new goals and most importantly time to make a change.
At that very moment I set a mental goal, to change my life, clean up my act as well as my body. I was determined to not to fall any farther into the bottomless pit that the current roller coaster ride I was on, was diving me into. I was time to make new choices, to begin searching for a better way and to make changes. Battered but not broken, I set a goal to pull myself out of that pit, and sail to new heights. Thanks to the help of my parents (RIP Daddy & love you Mom!) as well as some very close friends (Thank you Robbie!) I begin a new life, one that has set me upon a path of new choices, discovery, goal setting and self-improvement.
Over the course of the next couple years, I scratched and clawed my way back to reality. I worked temporary jobs and in a warehouse at a major department store to pay the bills and re-build my self-esteem. Then I set another mental goal to land a job that would pay enough to enable me to move back out on my own and raise my beautiful daughter in a healthy, happy and stable home – free of unwanted rollercoasters.
Tough choices had to be made for such a change. Did I want to keep the seemingly fun and thrills of the easier dark side? Or did I want to become truly successful, happy and fulfilled buy getting all those things that money CAN NOT buy? I had to make changes. Changes like breaking away from the places, habits and even the people that had aided in, and in some ways even urged on, my downfall.
Once again, goals were set, choices were made and changes put in place and I succeeded. I began working for a Fortune 5 company and climbed the ranks in that organization. In addition I found someone special to share my life with. Within about six years I was managing a team of people and millions of dollars in marketing materials that serviced all of North America. The only way I was able to accomplish this, is through an on-going process of goal setting, wiser choices/change and consistent self-improvement.
I don’t tell you this story to impress you, I tell you in the hopes that you will see that you are not alone in having gone through tough times (or going through them), that I have been there and done that and made it back from the dark side (so can you). My dark side was worse than I would wish upon anyone and I still made it. So can you. That is part of the journey we will be going through here. Sharing with you the tips, techniques and tools I used to make it from the streets (or should I say gutters) of Southern California, to a beautiful office in a Fortune5 company and beyond.
Are you ready to set the goals, make the choices and changes that will take your life to the next level? What about the level after that? What about to a level that you haven’t even dreamed is possible? I am betting you are ready and that is why you are still reading now.
In my next post we will discuss what can motivate you whether you are 9 or 90. Until then….
Think Successfully & Take Action
Tracy Brinkmann
One of Today’s TOP Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs
Goal Setting Worksheets – More Benefits of Putting Goals on Paper
Posted by: | CommentsWell a few days ago I shared with you my post on Goal Setting Worksheets –Benefits of Putting Goals on Paper where I told you that time and time again you have heard me talk about the importance of goals setting and of course in that article I stressed that fact again, plus one more, the benefits of putting goals on paper. I told you that you need a road map or as I call it a Success Atlas. Goals are milestones along your Success Atlas and the benefits of putting goals on paper will be a clearer view of your road map to reach them. Putting your goals on paper enables you to walk you through the necessary steps for success.
In Goal Setting Worksheets –Benefits of Putting Goals on Paper I shared three benefits of putting your goals on paper and they were:
- Goal Setting Worksheets can help you see your future vista – like an eagle flying high in the sky you can see of the peaks, valleys and crevices that make up the terrain around you. From you future vista you can clearly see your goal like an eagle can easily see that meal – you both will be able to swoop in and snatch up your goal.
- Goal Setting Worksheets can help you covert your vista into your why. Why does the eagle swoop in from on high to snatch up its prey? For survival of course, or perhaps to feed it’s family. Either way the eagle knows why it has to achieve its goal. Do you? Do you know the whys for your goal? Putting your goal on paper will help you convert your vista vision into motivating whys.
- Goal Setting Worksheets will enable you to take your future visa (long term goal) along with your whys and break that big picture down into medium goals. The eagle when building a nest does not grab all the stick and leaves at once. It breaks down the building process into sections – you have to remember an eagles nest starts at four feet wide and three feet deep – the record nest known was twelve feet wide and fifteen feet tall. Now that is a big goal. So too do you need to break down your goal into manageable sticks and steps. Putting your goals in writing will help you ‘see’ the steps as you pen the goal out.
Okay enough of the cliff notes from the previous article if you want you can go read it for yourself here – Goal Setting Worksheets –Benefits of Putting Goals on Paper. Today I want to give your four more benefits of putting your goals on paper or more specifically on your goal setting worksheets.
- Goal setting worksheets will help you build your success atlas. When you sit down and put your goals on paper, breaking them down into smaller and smaller goals then into tasks and steps, you will begin to identify some interesting facts about your goal, fact which will include but will not be limited to:
- What skills you need to build or find
- What information you will need to acquire
- What funding (if any) you will need
- What specialized training you will be to get or freshen up if you already have it.
- Obstacles you might encounter – and possible solutions to avoid it.
- Any other requirements you will need
- Goal setting worksheets will provide you with a way to track how well you are doing thus providing you with some accountability to yourself. As we all know no matter how well we plan out our life, it always seems to have a way of throwing an unexpected turn in the road to success. These turns can cause you to lose sight of what you truly desire. Putting your goals on paper will provide you a place to come back and check frequently to get you back on the road to success and refocus you on your goal. If you are using my goal setting worksheets, you will have a place to check off your achievements; you will even be giving a place to score your daily performance – for you need recognize your accomplishments so the next time you are feeling like you are not making any head way you can come back to your sheets and see all the ground you have truly covered as witnessed by the person most interested in your goal… YOU! Oh, and if you are not getting the results you planned, then your sheets will give you quick notification of that and you can easily adjust your plans more forward.
- Goal setting worksheets and the success atlas they will provide will give you the clarity you need to keep moving forward. Time and time again I have seen the most positively intentioned person being down their road to success then reach the first turn, or more often the first obstacle and they fight and fumble their way through it. Then once on the other side they struggle to figure out what to do next. This causes them to loose time, depletes their energy stores and deflates their motivation, often to the point of not taking that next step. Putting your goals on paper will give you the clarity to know exactly what you are doing now and what you are doing next, then after that and so on until you reach your next milestone or the major goal.
- Goal setting worksheets will help you tackle the ugly beast known as procrastination. Breaking those large goals into smaller one, then those into even smaller one then those into steps and steps into tasks will enable you to build a realistic time frame for the accomplishment of each. One of the best ways to tame the beast of procrastination is by having clear time lines and deadlines of your goals, steps and tasks – they will provide the motivation that puts the beast of procrastination to sleep. All you have to do then is take action and hold yourself accountable to the deadlines you have set for yourself to reach the goal YOU deserve and desire.
Goal setting worksheets or just putting your goals on paper will enable you to bring out the dreams and desires you have bottled up inside of you. They can enhance your self confidence in your ability to reach your goal, keep you motivated and focused while trying to reach your goal, and finally will let you know when your falling a stray and help you get yourself back on track. Take your dreams and turn them into goals by planning them out. Dreams are good, dreams are great even. But dreams are not goals until you create your success atlas and begin taking the steps necessary to turn your heartfelt dreams into the life you dream, desire and deserve.
If you would like a few more great tips on goal realization and even get the personally designed goals setting works sheets that I mentioned in this post, CLICK HERE and I will happily send the Goal Realization Made Easy eBook to you right now. CLICK HERE now and get your copy today so you can start realizing all your goals as quickly as possible.
Think Successfully & Take Action
Tracy
Goal Setting Worksheets – Benefits of Putting Goals on Paper
Posted by: | CommentsTime and time again you have heard me talk about the importance of goals setting. Well, in this article I need to stress that fact again, plus one more, the benefits of putting goals on paper. You need a road map or as I call it a Success Atlas. Goals are milestones along your Success Atlas and the benefits of putting goals on paper will be a clearer view of your road map to reach them. Putting your goals on paper enables you to walk you through the necessary steps for success.
I mean if you think about it you really set goals every single day of your life. You set the alarm at the same time setting a goal of getting up to get to work, school or even the gym on time. You review your customer’s needs setting a goal to meet their needs, make money and grow your business. You can take these same small scale principles and apply them to goal setting on a medium or even much larger scale.
We all have desires and dreams we want to attain. We sit day dreaming while strolling through the park, walking down the beach or down a sidewalk in the sitting. Envisioning all the great and wonderful things we would like to have in our lives. Money, love, happiness, a thriving business, healthy and happy children the list can be as long as our imagination. But the problem is that alone is not enough to keep us motivated and focused to move forward – especially if we meet with resistance to meeting the goals we have set.
After going through ANY mental goal setting exercise you need to commit your goals to paper, putting them in a journal or writing them down on a goal setting worksheet. Write down all your thoughts (good and bad) about your goals – allow the pen to flow and begin to create a road map, a blue print and a Success Atlas that will become clear and specific, that will provide you with the focus, motivation and direction that you need. Putting goals on paper, creating your Success Atlas will the next step you need to take, give you the focus and motivation to take it, then show the next and the next and so on, and so on.
Not sold yet? Well how about when someone is getting married and has one of those big beautiful weddings. Do you thing the goal just happened? Of course it didn’t. Couples will spend on average one hundred hours planning a wedding. They will put down all their plans (goals) on forms (goal worksheets). Everything from what color the bridesmaids are going to wear, to who is sitting next to whom at the reception. Because something as simple as Uncle Irritating sitting next to Grandma No-Patience can ruin a wedding just as fast as planning and outdoor wedding during the wrong time of year. All these steps need to be thought through, mapped out and committed to paper.
Here is another interesting fact I have come to learn. Many of those same people that spend that hundred hours doing all the goal setting for their wedding, getting all the benefits of putting goals on paper, spend ZERO time setting goals for their lives. I do not want that to be you!
Goal setting worksheets are great tools for putting your goals on paper. They can help you through every nuance of the goal setting process. They can help you plan better and even aid in seeing those little things that you might have missed without them.
Here are three great reasons for using Goal Setting Worksheets and put your goals on paper:
- Goal Setting Worksheets can help you see your future vista – many people call this the big picture. Imagine if you were sitting on a high vista overlooking your perfect life. How would is look to you? Where will you be? What will you be doing? Putting your goals on paper can help you start focusing on this future vista and steer you along life’s path and many decisions so you can arrive there.
- Goal Setting Worksheets can help you covert your vista into your why. If you do not have a important why for reaching your goal(s) then the odds are weighted heavily against you. It is not enough to own the beautiful home you need to know why you want it. Is it a sense of security? A place you can come to escape from the hectic pace of the outside world? Know your why and your why and your odds of achieving your goal shift into your favor.
- Goal Setting Worksheet will enable you to take your future visa (long term goal) along with your whys and break that big picture down into medium goals. Then you can break those medium goals down into short term goals. Then turn your short term goals into tasks and those tasks into steps. I have had many a person say they have a goal to ear six figure incomes. A very attainable goal, but so many think they can reach that goal in a year or even less. Depending on where they are THAT could be far less attainable. They need to take this long term goal and break it down into medium goals – say half way from where they are to that big goal. Then break it down in half again, then again. Until it is at a point where they can look at the task and say to themselves “I can do that.” Then they just need to set about doing it.
These are only three reasons why you could be going through your goal setting exercises and just a few of the benefits of putting your goals on paper. There are many more and actually I will put a few more together in my next post. So, for now, sit down write your goals out, look at your vista vision, figure out your whys and start breaking that vista vision down into mid-term goals. Break those mid-term goals into short term goals. Break those down into task and the task into steps. Now schedule your steps and take action. You will surprise yourself and everyone around at how fast you take off towards the dreams you desire and deserve.
If you would like a few more great tips on goal realization and even get my personally designed goals setting works sheets, CLICK HERE and I will happily end the Goal Realization Made Easy eBook to you right now. CLICK HERE now and get your copy today so you can start realizing all your goals as quickly as possible.
Think Successfully & Take Action
Tracy
